Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Kansas Whitetail Unit 1

I just learned that I drew a Kansas Whitetail tag in Unit 1 during muzzle loader season, which is mid/late September. I was hoping to get a muley tag but the way in which KS works, I ended up getting the WT tag instead. I put in through US Outfitters, so they are pairing me with Great Plains Outfitters for the hunt.

A few questions and I hope you guys can give me a little insight.

Has anyone hunted with Great Plains and has a recommendation?

Has anyone hunted Unit 1?

The hunt is in September so it could be warm. I would like to get an idea of trophy expectations.

I have a call into the outfitter but have not spoken with yet to get exact details of location, style of hunt, etc but any help from you guys would be appreciated.

John

I hate USO. I never liked them because of the lawsuit they filed out here in the west.

Combine that with the time I watched the owner George Taulman bail off a hill with a client to try to beat a young girl(15 y.o) to some Oryx in the White Sand Missile Range after pulling in behind us and knowing full well we were already there. We told him that day he was a sorry mother f***er and if I ever see him around I'll stand in front of him and tell him again.

George Taulman and USO can go to hell. His operation is among the most hated in the west and it is a reputation they rightfully earned. My advice would be to not mention USO at all. My feelings are shared by many from Kansas to Arizona and even into Mexico

I was born and raised in unit 1. Generally speaking if you divide unit 1 into fourths, the best whitetail area would be the north east quarter. Bring up a map showing creeks (which run mostly west to east) and along those will be the best whitetail areas. Mule deer are found more in the western half in more open country. There is some good hunting along 383 and #9 highways. Weather can be anything from summer heat to nice fall days. Rarely will it turn really cold in September but I have seen snow towards the end of the month.

Taint a matter of "could" - it WILL be warm.

Thanks guys for the input.

You do realize that tag is also good for the December firearm season? +1 on USO!

Jeremy, that is indeed a great benefit to the ML tag.

Which season would you guys prefer if it was your tag? I am not crazy about a September WT hunt but maybe I am wrong.

The archery season is the preferred - if only because the big guys are cruising.

The great thing about the ML season is bucks are generally still in bachelor groups and the late summer patterns make them fairly predictable. The downside to the ML season is the action is generally only early morning and later evening - particularly if it's hot.

The rifle season is always great if you're hunting deer with minimum hunting pressure.

JRS3, I apologize if I crapped on your thread, I just cannot stand USO. George Taulman is a hated man in the west and he is pure trash

That being said, best of luck on your hunt and I hope you find the buck of your dreams. Hopefully you will have an actual guide and not the town gas station attendant as my friend did when he booked with USO in Kansas about 10 years ago

I drew a ML tag 15 years ago and have never aplied again. Hot, dusty and did I mention Hot??? Too much cover and foilage still on the trees and in the fields. Most of the deer that year were grazing in the fields at night to avoid the heat of the day.

Some farmers were working the dirt getting ready for fall planting. The dust would hang in the timber like a Thick fog. We cut the sleves off our shirts and used them as dust masks...it was that bad.

One of the farmers we were hunting on made the joke, said he remembered the old timmers talking about when it rained 40 days and 40 nights, and they only got a quater inch.

I shot an 8 point towards the end of the season and spent a BUNCH of money on Ice tring to keep the thing cool. Oh yes, it was HOT.

I hope you have better luck then we did. Take a shotgun and try for some doves.

Darkside

Skane has a good point about the bucks being in bachelor groups. My experience in my area is that the whitetails pretty much stay in the corn at all times till the corn is cut, which in most cases will be after the ML season unless you get lucky and its wet corn or silage corn. Your best bet is to ask your outfitter!

I'd hunt the Rifle season in December. I did the same thing you did a few years ago in Unit 1 and killed a nice deer opening afternoon of Rifle season with about 8 does. 150" Ten point whitetail. Unguided trip for me.

Early Sept can be tough. Hot and Corn and Bean crops are tall and hard to locate the deer. They are on feeding patterns though so if you can get one on a regular pattern he's kill-able during that time but Dec seems better to me.

Lere

No hard feelings to any of you and I do appreciate those of you who gave good, real world experince with unit 1, September KS hunting, and local intel.I only want real opinions, thus is why I publicly posted. I have had a good experience with USO so far and realize they are very polarizing but they have done everything for me that they said they would. That is the way I do business and would stick with you if you held up your end of the bargain. USO does get a lot of internet press but most of it seems to be from people that have not actually hunted with them. I hope to run across someone that has hunted with Great Plains Outfitters in Kansas.

It sounds like September in KS can be a real hit or miss and depends on exactly what the property can offer. As soon as I speak with the outfitter and learn more specifics, I will report back.(If I don't get a good vibe, I am not going but I do want to hear their offer) The December option sounds more intriguing for now but let's see what hunt could entail.

When George Taulman drove in behind us and pulled that dick move by bailing off of the hill to beat us to the oryx we were glassing and screwed a young girl on her once in a lifetime oryx tag that was "real world" and I wouldn't piss in his mouth if he were dying of thirst. I was there and it showed his true character. Sounds like you know what you're associating with though so you have that going for you

That being said, good luck, I don't wish anybody a bad hunt anywhere